What in the world do you buy?!?! I absolutely HATE grocery shopping, so when I went out today I tried to buy enough to last us 3 weeks or so. Obviously I'm going to have to buy things like milk and produce before then, but I still spent less than $200 AND even bought snack stuff that we don't normally buy. I feel like I'd have to be eating steak and lobster every day to spend that much haha!

Replies

Well, first of all, we are a family of 6! Two adults and four children. We also have two dogs. One is an English Mastiff (which is huge!) and our golden retriever which is a medium sized dog but looks like a fox compared to the mastiff! LOL

When my husband is in the field we don't eat meat very much so that cuts down on the bill. We spend a lot of money on groceries, to the point where i'm ashamed to say we spend 1200 dollars each paycheck on groceries.

We spend $500-600 on food for my family of 4. Lots of fresh fruits and veggies, little to no meat. Trying to meal plan to cut that down. Any suggestions? We do buy quite a few snack foods for my df to take to work and my boys love crackers and cereals.

We're prob close to $1000/ month in the winter. We only buy meat at a little butcher that kills on site. During the summer we grow a lot of our produce, but have to buy during the other 3 seasons. I cook a lot from scratch, but all of the spices and ingredients add up. Plus add in dog food, non food items, cleaning supplies for 5 people and it gets pricey

Ok that could be why red lion is like south east in pa. But yeah only thing worth getting at a save a lot r my pot pies lol... there they are 59cents a thing walmart is 99cents lol

Quoting Anonymous:

I have no idea, I think their owned by Hannaford, which is a New England company. We have Save a lot too, and I agree, it is really gross! I have no idea where Red Lion is, but I do know it gets more expensive the further east you go.

Quoting dewh2007:

No we do not... we have a. Food 4 less and save a lot.. but save a lot food are really cheap..... BUT really gross :( lol.. and is it just in western pa or all over? My friend lives in red lion pa and its soo exspensive there it seems like!

Quoting Anonymous:

Yep, we're in Western PA and our region definitely has it easier than a lot of the country! Do you have a Bottom Dollar yet? They just opened this past year in our area and that store has helped me lower my bill really significantly!

Quoting dewh2007:

That is true on living! We are from ohio to me compared to other states we have it easy. We too have 2 toddlers. I try to get our cost lower but never seems to happen :( lol

Quoting Anonymous:

We're a family of 4 also, although both of the children are toddlers. I don't buy according to what we're going to eat from week to week, I strictly only shop the sales at 3-4 stores, stock up on the things with the best prices, and plan meals from there. For instance, chicken was on sale last week so I bought enough to last at least a few months. From what I've seen in the replies, it also helps that where we live seems to have a very low cost of living compared to other places.

Quoting dewh2007:

We spend anywhere from 550-650 a month but that is also including other stuff like cleaning things bathroom/shower stuff.. would be nice if we could spend less than 200 for 3 weeks! Lol.. how many people are in your family though? We are a family of 4... with our groc. Bill it also includes the kids lunches for when they go to their baby sitters so yeah 1000 bucks I couldn't imagine!

Exactly. Like I told op my pot pies are worth it because they are 59 cents for same brand at walmart and there they are like 99 cents. But yeah we got the taco shells seasoning and salsa verde there and yeah I love tacos but those I HATED lol

Quoting moniagee:

I'm in Ohio, and Save-A-Lot is disgusting! I may tom in there for some bread or some crackers, but that's it.

Quoting dewh2007:

No we do not... we have a. Food 4 less and save a lot.. but save a lot food are really cheap..... BUT really gross :( lol.. and is it just in western pa or all over? My friend lives in red lion pa and its soo exspensive there it seems like!

Quoting Anonymous:

Yep, we're in Western PA and our region definitely has it easier than a lot of the country! Do you have a Bottom Dollar yet? They just opened this past year in our area and that store has helped me lower my bill really significantly!

Quoting dewh2007:

That is true on living! We are from ohio to me compared to other states we have it easy. We too have 2 toddlers. I try to get our cost lower but never seems to happen :( lol

Quoting Anonymous:

We're a family of 4 also, although both of the children are toddlers. I don't buy according to what we're going to eat from week to week, I strictly only shop the sales at 3-4 stores, stock up on the things with the best prices, and plan meals from there. For instance, chicken was on sale last week so I bought enough to last at least a few months. From what I've seen in the replies, it also helps that where we live seems to have a very low cost of living compared to other places.

Quoting dewh2007:

We spend anywhere from 550-650 a month but that is also including other stuff like cleaning things bathroom/shower stuff.. would be nice if we could spend less than 200 for 3 weeks! Lol.. how many people are in your family though? We are a family of 4... with our groc. Bill it also includes the kids lunches for when they go to their baby sitters so yeah 1000 bucks I couldn't imagine!

by Anonymous 18

October 7, 2012 at 1:34 PM

To be honest, I could spend that. I cook and bake all the time and really can get excited with it, well when I can afford to. Currently, I spend about $500 a month and feed 2 kids and 6 adults...sometimes enough for 2 lunches the next day. I cook dinner every night and 99% of the time cook from scratch, while the necessity now, I always enjoyed to anyway so that hasn't been a challenge.

We do not buy top of the line meats, cheeses, and have to skip over the fresh produce quite a bit and opt for canned veggies. We buy sliced bread (one a week as we save it for the kids), 2-3 boxes of cereal, oatmeal, yogurts, apples, bananas, and some other fruit on sale. We buy 3-4 of milk a week. Snacks consist of raisins, pretzels, popcorn, granola bars and fruit bars, and the occasional bag of chips (never more than 2 bags a month). We have a salad every night for dinner and I try to include all the basics, lettuce, onion, olives, tomatoes and cucumbers. Sometimes, we have no cukes, another times no olives, and on occasion we are missing the tomato, but we always have a salad. Also we only shop at discount supermarkets and buy generic brand products and trust me, with some things, it does make a difference (in taste and in healthiness), but if that is all we can afford then so be it! When we do have to go to a major supermarket for something as simple as fresh green beans, I make sure it is on a 2 for 1 sale or have a substantial coupon. That is very rare though. I think the last time I did that was when I made Easter dinner for everyone.

If I do buy boxed stuff, I usually get it at the dollar store and it is usually to supplement a meal I am preparing and not the main dish. And on occasion, like last night, budget dictates that we eat hot dogs with baked beans and rice, but my family likes it. We don't mind eating like that, because my family knows that I am trying to save a few extra bucks to make meals like the Chicken Marsala that I made this past Tuesday (it was fabulous!!). There is so much that we go without and due to what is quite out of our control. Right now, I can control how and what my family eats and so it is important for me to put in as much effort as possible. It is quite demoralizing when rice and beans or hot dogs and mac & cheese is on the menu 4 times a week and sometimes, it is what we got to do, but when I am able I really, really, try. All in all, we do eat well, thank the Lord above.

It is killing us that the amount of money we spend on gas for our vehicle is creeping up to how much we spend on our groceries...that is so frustrating!!